due to，owing to

這一對詞組都表示“因為”、“由于”之意，但用法和使用場合有所不同。

在標準英語里，due to只能用以引導形容詞短語，不可引導副詞短語。例如：

Our delay was due to heavy traffic.

Mistakes due to carelessness may have serious consequences.

在第一例中，due to引導的短語在句中作表語，用在 verb“to be”之后;在第二例中，due to引導的短語作定語，修飾前面的主語mistakes.主張語言純正者(purists)認為，due to不能引導副詞短語，因此，下列句中的 due to應(yīng)改為 owing to或 because of：

Due to ill health，he could not attend the meeting

由于健康不佳，他不能參加會議。

事實上，在現(xiàn)代英語中，due to也經(jīng)常用以引導副詞短語，下面數(shù)句均摘自英美刊物：

Due to the weather，the flight was cancelled.

He failed due to carelessness.

The population of Pennsylvania increased from 50，000 in 1730 to more than 200，000 in 1763，due in large part to the thousands of Scotch-Irish.

…in America，where women began to predominate from pioneer times，due to their scarcity and greater demands.

Owing to如同 because of或 on account of一樣，是個介詞，只能引導副詞短語。例：

Owing to the rain，they could not come.

由于下雨，他們不能來了。

Owing to a traffic hold-up，I missed my flight.

由于交通堵塞，我趕不上航班。

The project fell through because of poor planning.

工程告吹是因為缺乏周詳策劃。

The university faced a cost overrun on account of miscalculation.

大學經(jīng)費超支是因為預計錯誤。

上面提過，在今日英語中，以上的 owing to/because of/on account of都可以用due to代替。